NEW YORK: Despite a growing tendency for US TV viewers to opt for on-demand and streaming services, Spanish-language real-time broadcasters are still attracting consumers with advertising revenues following in their wake.
That is good news for America's top six Spanish broadcasters, the Financial Times reported. Univision, Telemundo, MundoFox, UniMas, Estrella TV and Azteca saw an 11% increase in adspend last year compared with growth of just 3% at CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox.
Indeed, Univision sometimes beats English-language rivals among the sought-after audience of 18-49-year-olds and advertisers now see it as a serious contender.
"Univision, along with other networks in the Hispanic media market, is serious competition for the English-language broadcast networks, and the SMI [Standard Media Index] data highlight that perhaps ad dollars are finally beginning to catch up to ratings," said Scott Grunther, SMI's evp of media.
The trend is being driven in part by the viewing habits of America's population of 56m Hispanics, who are more drawn to live programmes and less likely to rely on catch-up TV.
For example, a full 92% of Univision viewers aged 18-to-49 watched live broadcasts during the 2013-14 TV season. By contrast, the four big English-language networks recorded percentages in the high-50s and low-60s.
"Whether it's sports or telenovelas [nightly soap operas] that you can't delay viewing because you'll miss out the next night, we really sell the value of a live audience," explained Keith Turner, president of sales and marketing at Univision.
Attractive also to advertisers is the demographic evidence that US Hispanics are younger than other segments of the American population.
The median age of the US Hispanic consumer is 27, firmly within the sought-after millennial generation, of whom Hispanics account for more than a fifth.
That is good news for America's top six Spanish broadcasters, the Financial Times reported. Univision, Telemundo, MundoFox, UniMas, Estrella TV and Azteca saw an 11% increase in adspend last year compared with growth of just 3% at CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox.
Indeed, Univision sometimes beats English-language rivals among the sought-after audience of 18-49-year-olds and advertisers now see it as a serious contender.
"Univision, along with other networks in the Hispanic media market, is serious competition for the English-language broadcast networks, and the SMI [Standard Media Index] data highlight that perhaps ad dollars are finally beginning to catch up to ratings," said Scott Grunther, SMI's evp of media.
The trend is being driven in part by the viewing habits of America's population of 56m Hispanics, who are more drawn to live programmes and less likely to rely on catch-up TV.
For example, a full 92% of Univision viewers aged 18-to-49 watched live broadcasts during the 2013-14 TV season. By contrast, the four big English-language networks recorded percentages in the high-50s and low-60s.
"Whether it's sports or telenovelas [nightly soap operas] that you can't delay viewing because you'll miss out the next night, we really sell the value of a live audience," explained Keith Turner, president of sales and marketing at Univision.
Attractive also to advertisers is the demographic evidence that US Hispanics are younger than other segments of the American population.
The median age of the US Hispanic consumer is 27, firmly within the sought-after millennial generation, of whom Hispanics account for more than a fifth.
Data sourced from Financial Times; additional content Warc staff
